4. Chapter 4

"I'm taking you to my friend's house actually. I won't be home all day because I have... stuff to do and I didn't want to leave you all alone," I nod silently at his words, feeling blood rush to my face. School was over now. Everyone would have been celebrating, cheering and saying their goodbyes. But here I was being… babysitted. I hated to think of it like that, Mai had said I needed help. And at the moment Niall was the only one offering it to me. But I couldn't help feeling like a stray dog that was being housed until it decides to run away again.

"So, Perrie will take good care of you. We're all staying at her house anyway for a while." Niall finishes, flashing me a smile before pulling the car to a stop outside of a house. He opens the door for me and helps me out, grabbing my bag from the boot and I follow him down the path.

"Hello!" A cheerful voice says with a slight accent from somewhere I can't place as the door is swung open. A beautiful girl with long silvery colored hair stands before us. She was naturally beautiful, that was obvious, and the make-up framing her eyes made it even more so. She seemed like the sort that would immediately look down on me because I was bare-faced and not dressed fashionably. My throat closes in panic.

"I'm Perrie," She says brightly to me as Niall introduces me. She beams and I muster a small smile back.

"Come in, don't just stand there." She says, waving us both in. I smile slightly but it feels forced. My limbs scream in protest as I follow Niall into the house.

"It's so good to finally meet you, I've been dying to since the boys have told me so much about you." The girl smiles down at me and I try my best not to appear shaken by the fact they had all been discussing me. I mean, they were bound to have talked about me at some point. How could they resist?

“I’m Perrie, by the way.” She adds, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"T-thank you for letting me stay here," I say quietly, stumbling over my words with nerves. I pull the jumper I was wearing further down over my hands and cuddle my fingers to the cuffs.

"You're very welcome, Crystal! It's no problem, honestly." Perrie closes the door and I stand there awkwardly as Niall disappears from sight. I find myself panicking, eyes roaming around the spacious room.

"Come on, I'll take you and show you your room."

That night, I'm sitting on the bed in 'my room', staring at my hands and trying to work out how to get out of here. A soft knock on the door draws me from my thoughts and I draw my eyes to it as it's hesitantly pushed open.

"Hey," Niall's soft voice fills the dark room and I give him a small smile in reply.

"We're all watching a film downstairs, if you wanted to join us?" He looks unsure of himself, and it confuses me as to why. I was the one that was terrified of him and scared to be here and I was nothing to him... What could I do that would possibly ever make him uncomfortable? Whilst going over theses thoughts it dawns on me that he's waiting for an answer.

"Sorry," I stumble, looking down at the floor to avoid his eyes.

"Erm... I think I'm just going to go to sleep. If that's alright," I tell him timidly, fiddling with my nails.

"Sure, sweet dreams, Crystal." And with those last words, he closes the door and leaves my head swimming for the rest of the night.

As I lay in bed that morning, I stare at the ceiling and try my best to ignore the clawing hunger inside of me. I hadn't eaten anything since the morning before I left hospital and I was hoping I could wait it out until Mae got here to check up on me. I didn't know when that was going to be so my only hope was to eat something.

"Urgh," I groan, running my hands over my face and hair. I lay there for several more minutes, stomach growling and churning. Eventually, I stand up and ponder for a moment. I make the bed and draw the curtains; letting the sunlight fill the room. It was late July and the sky was nearly risen. I stand and look out at the street below. I could climb out the window. Leave whilst they’re all asleep. Leave when they’re all out. Or I could-

“Crystal?” There’s a gentle knock at the door and it slowly opens, the girl, Perrie, reveals herself with a broad smile on her face.

“Good morning!” She chimes and I muster a small smile as she bustles inside. Closing the door behind her, she turns to face me and tucks a piece of hair behind her ear.

“There’s breakfast downstairs, Zayn’s made some.” She senses my confusion at the mention of the name and she chuckles slightly.

“Zayn, my boyfriend.” She explains and I smile slightly with a nod.

“Come on, I’ll take you down.” Perrie adds, sensing my unsureness. I let her take my hand and lead me out of the room. She takes me down the stairs and into the kitchen and the smell of bacon hits me immediately. There were two boys standing in the kitchen; one of them leaning over the stove. He was frying something whilst the other, one of the dark haired boys that I recognized from the hospital was making a cup of something.

“Morning,” Perrie chimes again, cheerful voice filling the room. The two boys turn to look at us as we enter and the second boy, who I presumes is Zayn, walks over and embraces Perrie. She lets go of my hand and motions for me to take a seat on one of the black bar-stools. I do so and put my hands in my lap as the other boy, turns around and smiles.

“I’m Harry Styles,” He says, dimples showing. I recognized him too from the hospital, he had been waiting outside my room a few times when Niall came to visit.

“Crystal,” I say quietly, although I was already assured he knew. I watch as Zayn departs from Perrie and the two of them excuse themselves before leaving the kitchen. I can hear footsteps rummaging upstairs and someone calling something to another. It made me uncomfortable to remember how many other people there were currently in this house and I didn’t know whether that made me feel more secure or threatened. The strong scent of bacon hits me again and my stomach churns; loudly. Harry chuckles slightly, turning the frying pan towards me with a smirk. He lifts it up in question and I find myself nodding slightly. He takes a plate and pushes it towards me gently, before using a plastic spatula to place a few pieces on the plate. He then rummages around in a drawer before handing me a knife and fork. I take them gingerly and quickly begin to eat. Before long, the plate infront of me is empty. I let the cutlery drop to the plate and it clashes loudly. Harry turns to face me with a grin and goes to open his mouth. He stops as I feel the vomit rise to the back of my throat and I stand up, rushing to the sink. Before I can reach it the contents of my stomach is falling from my mouth and pouring to the floor. I heave several times before my legs give way and I fall to the floor in a flood of tears.

“Oh, Crystal!” I hear someone say and Perrie’s face appears before mine. I was crouched on the floor, hair sticking to my face and my mouth tasting disgusting. Then another set of footsteps rush down the stairs and into the room, Perrie’s name being called. I stand up with the support of Perrie as Niall appears in the doorway. I let my head fall down and wipe my mouth with the back of my hand.

“Are you okay?” He asks quietly as I lean on the counter. Perrie bends down to help Harry clean the floor up and immediately guilt pings at me. I nod feverishly and Niall smiles slightly before placing his arm around me. He walks me up the stairs and comes to a stop outside a white door. He pushes it open to reveal a bathroom and silently walks back down the stairs as I step inside.